Do or Die for The Yankees

All or nothing games are special in sports and New York Yankees fans will get one tonight when the Bronx Bombers take the field in Cleveland in the fifth and deciding game of the American League Division Series.

The home team has won the first four games of the series so that clearly favors the Indians who will also have probable Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber on the mound against CC Sabathia who could be making his last-ever appearance in pinstripes.

However this entire season has been a bonus for Yankee fans, most of whom did not expect their team to contend for a championship until next year. However a nice combination of youth and experience has moved the timeline up a bit and if the Yankees can win tonight then it’s on to the American League Championship series against the Houston Astros.

Game time tonight is 8:08 and it could be a late night for many. Of course it’s easier to get by on a less than full night of sleep when your team wins so I wish you Yankee fans a “thumbs down.”

Frankly I’m not sure who to root for but I would settle for Todd Frazier going 4-4 and the Yankees losing.

In terms of shocking upsets it will likely not rank up there with the US beating Russia in ice hockey or Villanova toping Georgetown in college basketball or even Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson in the boxing ring. However on Tuesday the United States Men’s National Soccer team suffered a stunning 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago which will keep them out of next year’s World Cup for the first time since 1986.

It is being called by many the most embarrassing loss in the history of the U.S. National team as all the Americans needed was a tie to qualify but instead lost to a T&T squad that was ranked 99th in the world and had lost 8 of its 9 World Cup qualifying matches.

The loss is not only bad for US soccer it’s really bad news for Fox who outbid ESPN and agreed to pay $400 million for the English broadcast rights to the World Cup in 2018 & 2022. Cleary without an American team to root for you can expect advertisers to be less interested in next summer’s event in Moscow.